


find your way back

by moonlights0nata



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: M/M, S3 ENDING SPOILERS, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Spoilers, this is set right after the ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 17:48:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20782622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlights0nata/pseuds/moonlights0nata
Summary: His name was Ai. He liked that name a lot.





	find your way back

**Author's Note:**

> **SPOILERS FOR S3 ENDING !!! ** Saying it again and bolded, so don't read if you haven't watched yet !!!!
> 
> I will offer more rambles in the end notes so I don't spoil anything here. And I hope for those that continue reading that you enjoy <3
> 
> And Comments / Kudos / Etc. are always appreciated !

Ai was supposed to die. Vanish, turn into nothing more than a memory. He was data, and like so, once data was destroyed it would be forever gone.

But strangely enough, that hadn’t happened. Something had remained, almost like computer cache, existing  _ somewhere _ . Ai only felt partially aware of his existence but the fact that he existed meant he wasn’t gone like he had planned to be. He was something, still, a lonely eye floating in a data stream.

He tried to assemble things into facts, as they came back to him. His name was Ai. He liked that name a lot. He was an eye, currently, but he knew he had once had a  _ body _ . He was an Ignis, an artificial intelligence that had been created by humans. There were other Ignis. Were they not here? Were they gone? _ He _ was supposed to be gone but...he existed. He couldn’t remember why he would have died, though.

And there was another name, in his head.  _ Yusaku. _ Yusaku....why did he know that name? He wasn’t sure, but it felt important.  _ Yusaku was important _ . Someone Ai had to...find maybe? Maybe he was the reason he existed? If Ai had a beating heart, he thought it’d be aching at the thought of him or it’d burst with happiness. But Ai was just an eye and he could only blink and wonder why the name made him so sad and happy at the same time. Logic alone couldn’t explain this feeling.

He wasn’t sure where he was, or how much time he had been here already. He tried moving but he could only go so far; wherever he was, he couldn’t leave as he was. The data around him was constantly flowing, perhaps it passed him by or it was carrying him with him. It was strangely familiar and not at all.

After growing bored of waiting stuck in one place, he tried poking at the data, see what it was about. He couldn’t draw out a concrete thing, but he saw things in it; glimpses of memories, remainders of things. None of them made much sense to him at first; he saw an internet city, he saw duels that must have long passed and been over with. But this data remembered them. Even when something ended, this flow kept it intact, in a pocket only to be accessed if so desired. 

Ai had nothing better to do so he kept watching. It was the best kind of entertainment he’d get while he was like this.

Occasionally, the glimpses he saw would strike a chord with him, but he wasn’t sure why; a burst of flames; glinting earrings and a mask there; the color blue, reminiscent of a sky he might have once stared up at; smiles, all teeth, or smirks, cocky; gloved hands drawing a card; dragons, mages, monsters; green eyes.

_ Green eyes _ . Ai felt that nostalgic feeling, again. Whenever he found a glimpse of those eyes, focused, determined, fierce, he wanted to reach further and see who they belonged to. Why did this storm--a data storm?--remember those eyes? Why did it remember all those tiny bits of pieces? Why did they call to Ai?

He kept watching. He heard words, phrases, idle chatter that didn’t matter to him, but occasionally, a word would catch his attention; “Hero”; “...Knight of…”; “Partner”; “Playmaker”.

_ Playmaker _ . Who was Playmaker? That name felt important too. It was somewhere in his memories.

Why couldn’t he remember? He was alone here, he knew, but he hadn’t always, had he? He had been somewhere else, somewhere brighter, warmer, with others. The Ignis. With Playmaker? Yusaku? Were they connected? No matter how much he wanted to jog his memory, he couldn’t; he wasn’t a human. He needed that memory’s data to remember it and he currently didn’t have it. He only had these strange feelings and little bits that weren’t enough to reconstruct everything.

He was so _ lonely _ . His eye teared up, brimming with artificial tears. So he could cry but not remember anything? Tears felt useless now and yet they brimmed from his very tiny core. He wanted to get out of here. He wanted to be gone the way he was supposed to be. He wanted to see Yusaku. Yusaku, whoever he was. Maybe he knew the answers to all of his questions. But what if Yusaku was the one who was _ gone _ ? The thought was too painful.

Time seemed to move slowly and too fast all at once, or didn’t seem to move at all. Nothing ever changed, save for the glimpses he saw in the data stream. There was always something to see. Ai was starting to think that maybe he was here because he was part of this stream; a piece of data, stuck here forever. Maybe he too, was just a memory, of this large network, that remembered him somehow. Maybe all that felt so familiar to him was long gone, as well.

He was convincing himself of that fact when something changed, one day. He thought it was another memory he had accessed, at first, because the hands reaching for him felt terribly familiar. They cupped him gently, and Ai let himself be pulled away by them, out of the storm, into the light.

And then he saw familiar green eyes, shimmering and bright, glancing down at him. The person before him looked like a savior, bathed in radiance, sent to rescue Ai from the dark. A hero.

“Ai.” Ah, that voice felt so nostalgic too. It was filled with an emotion that Ai couldn’t finish processing in that moment. “I finally…” His smile felt like it dispelled the loneliness Ai had been feeling all this time, like it pulled at his core. “I finally found you.”

Ai wanted to speak but he found he could not. Another thing he was missing. He could only blink at his green eyed hero, his eye filling with tears again, so overwhelmed all of a sudden. He was so much like home, like everything Ai had been missing all this time. 

“It’s okay. We are going home.” Those green eyes were misty, as well. He held Ai close to him, like a precious thing. “I’m taking you home, Ai.”

* * *

Ai’s data had been scattered through the network so it had been no easy task for Yusaku to find it all again. Perhaps many would have considered it wishful thinking, the fact he had wanted to believe Ai hadn’t been completely gone. But a piece of him had stayed with him, after their duel; a very tiny part had found its way into his duel disk. Like that very small part had been seeking home and found it where everything had began for Yusaku and Ai. 

His duel with Ai had taken an emotional toll out of Yusaku. He had needed time away and his friends, the bonds he had formed, they understood; in his heart he knew they would wait for him to come back. And when he did, Yusaku would make sure Ai was with him, he would make sure to bring him back too.

That piece of data in his duel disk helped him find the rest of the parts, even if it took him tedious, long months of search. The network was ever expanding, ever growing, and the places to search didn’t seem to end. 

But finally, he had found the last one floating in the data storm, somewhere very far away in the network. Once he held the small Ai eye in his hands, he knew his journey had finally come to an end. 

There was someone Yusaku needed, in order to restore Ai.

“Fujiki, as glad as I am to see you--” Ryoken rubbed the sleep off his eyes, when Yusaku appeared at his door at three in the morning one night after having gone for quite some time. “--could your return not have waited till morning?”

“It’s morning. It’s three am. And this is  _ important. _ ”

Ryoken leaned against his door frame, a bit more awake. “What is it?”

“I need you to help me put someone back together.”

“...Someone?” Ryoken squinted before his eyes widened. Realization dawned on him. “Fujiki. You...Did you--”

“I found him. _ All  _ of him.” He held up his duel disk. His face reflected both his exhaustion and his determination, having gone this far just for Ai. “ _ Please _ . You have more knowledge than me. I need your help.”

Ryoken stared at the duel disk, his expression intense but otherwise unreadable. Yusaku wondered for a moment if the man would refuse. If, even after all this time, he believed Ai’s existence should stay gone. But then he sighed, shoulders sagging and he stepped aside to let Yusaku through. When their gazes met, Yusaku saw an understanding in Ryoken’s.

“Come in. We have a lot to do.”

* * *

Ai’s awareness came back slowly at first and then all at once. His memories were all back so now he really did _ not _ understand why he was  _ alive _ ; he was supposed to fade away after his duel with Playmaker, wasn’t he? The why was he--

\--in a very familiar duel disk? Ai’s single eye blinked rapidly before he stood in his Ignis form atop the disk, staring at his hands.

“I’m…”

“Ai !” 

His head snapped up and he saw again his green eyed savior, except now he knew who it was.

“Y--Yusaku?” Yusaku, Playmaker, who, as Ai last remembered, had been holding him in his arms and crying. Yusaku, his partner, whose eyes had never looked so bright despite the dark circles under them. He looked so wrecked and on the verge on tears and yet his lips were pulled in a wobbly smile, like he’d crumble any minute. Ai felt much the same but he didn’t understand why-- “--why am I--”

“I got your data back.” Yusaku’s hands cradled his duel disk, bringing it up. “It scattered through the network but I searched for you.”

“You--How long did that take?!” Ai couldn’t _ believe  _ him. “Were you doing that all this time?!”

“ _ Months. _ I don’t know.” 

“Are you an idiot?!” Ai huffed, throwing his arms in the air and stomping his foot. “You finally,  _ finally  _ were done with all of this ! You got your future ! And instead of stopping to play the hero you just--you had to--” Ai sniffled, feeling hiccups bubbling up his chest. “--you had to go and s-save me? When I was practically gone? How stubborn--” His hands rubbed at his eyes, tears gathering in them. “--how stubborn can you be?! Yusaku, idiot, you big--”

“Yeah. I’m stubborn, Ai.” Yusaku dropped down on a chair behind him. He looked so, so tired. “But I would not give up on you. I _ couldn’t. _ ” His voice broke and Ai saw the tears glistening at the corner of his eyes. “My future isn’t complete without  _ you _ in it.”

“You idiot !” Ai’s tiny hands reached for his face, pinching Yusaku’s cheeks. “If I’m in your future you are-- _ you _ are going to--” _ I’m going to lose you.  _ “--Yusaku--”

“That won’t happen.  _ I won’t let it _ .” One hand settled behind Ai, cradling him close. There was only hope and a deep conviction in his eyes. “We’ll build a different future,  _ together _ . We’ll find a way forwards. I  _ promise _ .”

Ai wanted to believe that. He wanted to believe that  _ so badly. _ He had hoped for that future, hadn’t he? A future for both humans and Ignis. He had lost his friends, in the process, and then he had seen a future where his very existence ended Yusaku’s. His most dear person. He didn’t want to live in that kind of future.

But when Yusaku spoke like that, so sure, with words that could make hearts waver, Ai wanted to _ hope _ again. He wanted to stay in this light, with Yusaku, be a part of that future. Could they change what the dozens of simulations Ai ran showed him? Could it be different?

Then again, Ai could have never predicted  _ this _ future. Yusaku searching for him and building him back up--no simulation warned him of this. Was there a different possibility out there? 

“Idiot.” Ai’s hands stopped pinching Yusaku’s cheeks, instead holding onto him the way he used to do before. When Yusaku lowered his face, their foreheads knocked together naturally. The gesture was filled with mutual affection.

“ _ You’re _ the idiot.” Wetness touched down on Ai’s hands and he heard Yusaku sob. The sound reminded Ai of Yusaku’s expression the day of their duel, his tears right before Ai’s consciousness had faded and scattered. It hurt. He had hurt Yusaku, so much, and even then the other had searched for him, all to see him again. 

“...Why did you go so far for me, Yusaku? After all I did?” Ai asked after a moment, while his small hands tried wiping Yusaku’s tears away. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Yusaku lifted his head, rubbing at his eyes. Ai tilted his head, pretending to be oblivious, and Yusaku sighed. “...Do you remember what you said, after our duel? You never even gave me time to  _ reply _ .”

Ai had said many things after their duel. But there were three words, in particular, that he had uttered too late, had waited too long to say. He had faded before he even got to know if he’d get to hear them back. 

“So let me give it to you now.” Yusaku flashed Ai a tired but no less adoring smile. Like the one after they had dueled Revolver at the Tower of Hanoi, or the one when Yusaku had said he wanted Ai to be safe, after the fight with Lightning. A smile that made Ai feel warm deep in his core. 

_ ‘I loved you’ _ Ai had said, and meant it.

“I love you too, Ai.” Yusaku said back, at last, and the words told Ai he was finally  _ home. _

**Author's Note:**

> SO I wrote this yesterday like a possessed woman after the ending made me cry HAHA I literally just dumped all my feels into this and hoped they made sense. 
> 
> THAT VAGUE ENDING WITH AI EYE JUST---I HAD TO WRITE SOMETHING FOR IT, it felt too much like Ai wasn't gone completely and was somewhere out there. And I love Ai and Yusaku a lot and I need them to have a happy ending together okay? Q_Q That vague ending left me with HOPE.
> 
> This aside, tho, I actually quite liked the ending. Despite how much Ai's death made me cry and hurt me (holy HECK Yusaku getting shot in the simulation toO???), I thought it was overall well executed, given how rushed everything was. Do I still want all the Ignis to live and be happy with their origins??? DAMN RIGHT so don't be surprised if in the future I write more of that 8''D I got many AUs swimming in my head !!! VRAINS ending just means I get to go all out with them ! 
> 
> So thank you VRAINS for everything, you have given me so, so much <3 I shall continue to create tons of stuff !!
> 
> PS: I lost Ryoken at the end there. Just imagine he gave the other two space and went to sleep or is gonna appear any moment to kick the other two out so he can rest LOL. Maybe I'll write a second part to this at some point? Or following this as a post canon series.
> 
> \---
> 
> I'm also at
> 
> pocketsonny on tumblr  
@moons0nata (main) and @pocketwriting (wips/ideas) on twitter


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